Module 1: What is an “Ice Breaker”?
An ice breaker is a customizable, clickable text string that appears in a chat when you first start a conversation with a user. For example: “Plan a trip” or “Create a fitness plan”.
Ice breakers are ideal for initiating service interactions such as customer support or account services. For example, you can embed a WhatsApp button on your app or website. When users click that button, they will be redirected to the WhatsApp interface, where they can select from a set of customizable prompts that guide them in interacting with your service.
You can configure up to 4 ice breakers per business phone number. Each ice breaker must not exceed 80 characters, and emojis are not supported.
When a user clicks an ice breaker, it triggers the standard "message received" webhooks, which contain the ice breaker string (assigned to the body property in the payload). If a user tries to send a message instead of clicking an ice breaker, the keyboard will appear in a floating window. However, the user can close the keyboard to view the ice breaker menu again.
Note: If a WhatsApp user taps a generic link configured with pre-filled text (wa.me or api.whatsapp.com link), the ice breaker user interface will automatically close. However, users can close the keyboard to view the ice breaker menu again.
Module 2: How to Add an “Ice Breaker” in WhatsApp
Meta Business Manager link: https://business.facebook.com/
1. Log into Meta Business Manager with the corresponding FB account, then go to the relevant WABA account under WhatsApp Manager.
2. Click on the corresponding phone number → then click Automations.
3. Fill in the ice breaker(s) you want to use and save. You can add up to 4 ice breaker buttons, with the preview effect shown on the right-hand side.
4. When a user contacts this WhatsApp number for the first time, the ice breakers will be displayed as shown below.